FRANCE: RUGBY UNION - Australia prepare to face England in World Cup quarter final

The Australian Wallabies arrived on Thursday (October 4) for training at the Velodrome Stadium in Marseille led by a beaming coach John Connolly. The team, headed by Captain Stirling Mortlock, looked to be in good spirits as they warmed up for their highly-anticipated quarter-final on Saturday (October 06) against England, who beat them in the final of the 2003 tournament. There were no major surprises in the squad list announced on Thursday. Stirling Mortlock returns from injury to resume the captaincy, but as expected Australia will play without Scott Staniforth, who was expected to be named on the reserves bench, due to an ongoing shoulder injury. Staniforth's injury could not have come at a worse time for the Australians, who have already lost wing Mark Gerrard and backrower David Lyons for the tournament and are sweating on the return of fly half Stephen Larkham. Recalling Australia's defeat at the hands of England in the 2003 final, Mortlock nonetheless remained hopeful, saying: A lot of us have some bad memories about playing England four years ago but its a totally new team, new World Cup and a new challenge in front of us." Weighing up Australia's chances, Nathan Sharpe who sported a black eye, said: "A team that is criticised is always dangerous when you come out to confront them, so we know what we can expect against these guys, they're gonna be very fired up, they've picked a very very big strong powerful team and its going to be a very physical game for us." Teammate Berrick Barnes was equally apprehensive, saying England had beaten Tonga and Samoa, both of whom had played well against South Africa, and have back Paul Sackey in good form. "If we don't execute well on the weekend, you know, we're in for a tough game, that's for sure," he added. Australia's performance this Saturday will determine whether they proceed to the semi-finals, where they will face either New Zealand or France.

ITN Source | October 5, 2007

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